Cinema
The Life of Oharu
西鶴一代女
Kenji Mizoguchi · 1952
Synopsis
Oharu, an ageing prostitute, enters a temple filled with statues and thinks she recognises in one of them the face of the man she loved, according to Senses of Cinema. She remembers: the daughter of a samurai in the service of the imperial court, she had loved a page of lower rank, Katsunosuke; discovered, they were punished and her family was driven from the court. Sold afterwards to the lord Matsudaira to give him an heir, she was sent away after the birth, and began a series of falls, from courtesan to servant.
Context
The film freely adapts several episodes from a book by Ihara Saikaku published in 1686; the screenplay is by Yoda Yoshikata with the director. According to Senses of Cinema, the adaptation gives the heroine a name and a face and puts the exploitation of women at the centre, the period film serving to examine the sufferings of postwar Japan. Produced by Shintōhō and Koi Productions, it was released in Japan on 17 April 1952, with in the role of Oharu an actress who herself became a director.
Who it is for
Two hours and a quarter on a woman's life seen from her old age, from the palaces of Kyoto to the pavement.
Prizes and reception
International Prize at the Venice festival in 1952, the very year of its release in Japan.
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